Resolving sewage system reconstruction in China

In November 2011, Grundfos provided one prefabricated pumping station for sewage system reconstruction project in Fengzhong Road in Chongqing, China. This proved to be the perfect solution for difficult sewage system reconstruction in the old city.

PHOTOS: Installation of the Prefabricated Pumping Station

Sewage system

The Fengzhong Road sewage system reconstruction project had to meet the demands of 4320m3/d inflow in a 2m tank diameter with 8.3m depth that had to be put into a concrete well. Sewage reconstruction in the old city with high population density and complicated site conditions was a challenge – and the prefabricated pumping station proved to be perfect.

Chongqing is one of the largest cities in China and also the political, economic and cultural centre in the southwest of China. Fengzhong Road is one of the avenues west of Chongqing city and is 10km long, along which there are many offices, schools, residential areas and shopping centres. Due to lack of maintenance, the facilities on this road were in serious disrepair, which caused disruption to local residents.

In order to improve people’s living conditions, the reconstruction of Fengzhong Road was regarded as one of the key projects of 2011 of which the sewage network is the most important and difficult part, with a total investment of 30 million RMB, including 1593m of pipelines, 48 units of check wells and one pumping station, to be finished within 90 days of signing the contract.

An opportunity for Grundfos For the reconstruction project in Chongqing old city, the solution needed to meet even stricter requirements, such as a smaller footprint, a smaller construction site, less disruption to local residents and transportation, and be visually unobtrusive. The local government needed to search for a new solution to make the project successful.

"Grundfos Prefabricated Pumping Stations meet the requirements for quick and easy installation in Chongqing’s old city, bringing a pressurised sewage system to the local community with low impact and a small footprint."

In Europe, Prefabricated Pumping Stations have a history of over 50 years of usage, and installations can be seen in many places. In 2009, the concept was imported from Europe to China, where the Grundfos Prefabricated Pumping Station quickly became popular, and focused attention on these solutions for the Chinese market. This is a new concept in China, and is seen as an innovation of pumping station design and application that is very much needed in old city reconstruction, with benefits that traditional pumping stations don’t have.

Grundfos Prefabricated Pumping Stations resolve issuesRight from the first presentation of the Grundfos prefabricated pumping station concept, the project designers understood the possibilities of the solution, and could see that these would be the best solution for the very specific demands of their project.

• Limited space: Once installed, the area the Prefabricated Pumping Station occupied was just 10m2, which was very attractive to the owner and construction team. It was very important to keep the construction area and the area the pumping station as small as possible, to reduce the impact heavily on people and infrastructure nearby.

• Construction time: The Prefabricated Pumping Station was produced in the Grundfos factory and sent to the site as a complete package. Installation took only three days and a total of 45 days for the whole project, within the owner’s requirements for less than 50 days from confirmation of the scheme to commissioning.

• Local conditions: To meet local site conditions, a concrete well surrounding the Prefabricated Pumping Station was built with reverse construction method, saving time and costs compared with the traditional open caisson method. A geological survey showed that the foundation supporting work especially would be prohibitively expensive.

• Impact on surrounding area: The Grundfos Prefabricated Pumping Station is totally hidden underground and visually unobtrusive without any impact on the surrounding area. If a traditional concrete pumping station had been installed, it would be visually noticeable and impact the surrounding area.

• Control system: The Grundfos Prefabricated Pumping Station is easy to control with the advanced Grundfos Remote Management System no matter wherever you are in the world. It offers trouble free operation and is easy to service. This met the owner’s requirement for a pumping station with easy operation and maintenance.

The Grundfos Prefabricated Pumping Station solution solved typical problems in a typical old city reconstruction project. The project was completed on time and within budget. The owner and designer are all satisfied with this integrated, intelligent pumping station with stable operation and high efficiency.